The Sidekick Part 2: Fight for the Future
by Invergirl21
Summary: This is the first follow up to my very first story, The Sidekick. The chapters did not upload properly the first time.
Disclaimer: I don't own Best Friends Whenever. I only own Joanna Harris.

AN: I am vision impaired, so anything I describe is all based on what I have heard throughout each episode.

AN2: I love and root for Janet Smythe, so this story focuses mostly on her and her sidekick Joanna.

Chapter 1: Prologue

In August of 1994, a beautiful baby girl was born in Portland, Oregon. As she grew older and started school, she became a bright, vivacious girl who was fascinated with science.

Her fascination only grew when she entered high school. A middle-aged woman was moving in across the street. The woman seemed to have additional equipment in her van, in addition to the household essentials in the moving truck. The young brunette girl, Joanna Harris, was curious about the woman.

When the moving men left, she walked across the street to meet her.

"Hi," she said cheerily. "You must be our new neighbor. I'm Joanna Harris."

"Janet Smythe," the woman replied. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go settle into my new house in peace."

Janet turned away abruptly and entered her house. Joanna turned back to her own house, thinking that her new neighbor was quite intriguing and mysterious, if not a little rude.

Chapter 2: Cyd and Shelby Strike Back

Joanna Harris had been apprenticed to her neighbor, Janet Smythe, for three years. Now, she was her official sidekick.

Joanna was preparing Janet's latest invention in her lab, while Janet was walking around her living room, looking at all the pictures of herself on the walls. Joanna rolled her eyes. Sometimes her boss could be so vain.

Suddenly, Joanna heard Janet talking to what sounded like a nervous teenage girl. The girl, Shelby, seemed to get slightly more confident as Janet carried on talking to her.

Then Joanna heard Janet say, "I need to run upstairs for a second. Please make yourself right at home."

When Joanna spotted Janet in the doorway, she asked, "Who were you talking to down there?"

"One of the girls who trapped me in my lab 25 years ago," Janet growled. "She doesn't look any different now than she did back then."

"Do you think we have time travelers among us?" Joanna asked excitedly.

"I'm certain of it," Janet replied with a smile. "At last, Joanna; we will finally unlock the secrets that will give us great fame and power." Joanna and Janet smiled at each other.

Then they heard their guest calling Janet's name, beginning to come up the stairs.

"Get in position," Janet hissed. "I'll get the experiment tables ready."

When Shelby made it to the lab, she froze, shocked at what she saw.

"Whoa," she cried as Joanna sneaked up on her and dragged her onto one of the lab tables, tying her down to it tightly.

"I recognized you the moment I saw you," Janet said as Joanna stepped away from the table. "I've been waiting for you for a long time."

"Please," Shelby begged. "You can't do this."

But Janet ignored Shelby's pleas. "For 25 years, I've been searching for the two teenage girls who broke into my lab and tricked me into one of my own booby traps," she snapped. "You're one of those girls."

"That couldn't be me," Shelby denied. "It was 25 years ago."

"My security cameras caught the whole thing," Janet snarled. "One moment you were there, and the next moment you were gone. And so imagine my surprise a quarter of a century later, when you walk into my house and you haven't aged a day."

Janet, that doesn't make any sense," Shelby said. "Think about it."

"I've done nothing but think about it," Janet yelled. "I even got myself an apprentice to help me figure things out. She told me once about the possible existence of time travel. As crazy as I thought she was at the time, now I think you're some kind of time traveler. What do you have to say to that?"

"If I could time travel, don't you think I could've traveled out of here by now?" Shelby asked.

This time, Joanna answered. "Perhaps you can't do it alone," she said. "Perhaps you need your friend."

"Where is she?" Janet demanded.

Shelby tried to deny it by saying that she had no friends and that she was unpopular, but then she got a text. Janet took Shelby's phone and texted back,

"What up, girlfriend? Totes excited to see you. Time teens forever."

When Janet showed Shelby the phone, Shelby rolled her eyes. "She'll never believe that was me," she scoffed.

"If she's anything like you, she will," Joanna snickered.

"And what would that be?" Shelby asked angrily. She couldn't believe the nerve of this girl, this random girl who was helping Janet Smythe.

"Gullible and falls for everything in the world," Joanna taunted.

"Enough," Janet yelled, stopping Joanna's taunts. "I knew I was destined to be rich and famous, but you took that from me. It was fate that I bought your old house so I could have my vengeance."

Then the doorbell rang. Janet left the room to see who was at the door, leaving Joanna to watch Shelby.

"Why are you helping her?" Shelby asked. "She's ruthless. Deep down inside you, I can sense a young woman who just wants people to accept her. You don't have to align yourself with someone like Janet Smythe to feel better about yourself."

Joanna leaned her face close to Shelby's. She grabbed her chin tightly, forcing Shelby to look at her.

"You don't know me at all," Joanna growled menacingly, her voice shaking with barely-suppressed anger.

Then she pulled away. "Janet is not ruthless. She is a woman with ambition. She understands me in a way that no one else ever has." Joanna was yelling by the time she got to the end of her speech.

Then Janet came back in with Shelby's friend Cyd, who got handed off to Joanna to be secured to the other lab table.

"This is it," Janet said gleefully, rubbing her hands together like a true mad scientist. "The answers I've been searching for, finally, strapped to the tables right in front of me."

"How do we always end up getting strapped to tables no matter what timeline we're in?" Cyd grumbled.

"Cyd, this is all my fault," Shelby said. "I never should have suggested that we meet at my old house."

"It's my fault too," Cyd said. "I should have known she couldn't be trusted."

"Enough, both of you," Janet interrupted. "It was Joanna and I who trapped you in here. Stop trying to take the credit."

Then the four of them heard two new voices coming closer to the lab. Joanna took position in the doorway. When they were close enough, she lassoed them and dragged them to a bench by the door, where she tied them down separately.

"Barry, did you know that your brilliant scientist mentor was evil, and that she had an evil sidekick?" The girl, Marci, asked, scared.

"Nope," the boy, Barry, replied. "That is fresh information. Had I known that, I would not have brought you here."

"Oh, thanks, Barry," Marci said awkwardly.

"Cyd, Shelby, what's going on here?" Barry asked the girls.

"It's a long story," Shelby said.

"We're time travelers, and Janet and Joanna are crazy," Cyd added.

"Okay, maybe it wasn't a long story," Shelby said sheepishly.

"The only story we want to hear is the secret of your power," Joanna cut in.

"We don't even know how it works," Shelby said. "So we couldn't tell you guys even if we wanted to, which we don't."

"Doesn't matter," Janet smirked sinisterly. Joanna uncovered the machine that she had been working on earlier that day.

"This molecular disrupter will rip apart your chromosomes until we unlock your secrets." She turned around to prepare the chamber in the machine, while Joanna watched their captives.

The girls struggled frantically to get out of their restraints. "Struggle all you want," Joanna said. "It's no use."

"Guys, this is not the way to make a scientific breakthrough," Barry said. "Not by hurting someone."

"I'm not asking your opinion," Janet said rudely. "I don't care what you think."

"That's it," Barry snapped. "You are no longer my mentor. As soon as you sign my independent study evaluation for school, we are through."

Cyd and Shelby were still trying to wiggle out of the restraints. "It's not working," Shelby grunted. "The ropes are too tight," Cyd grunted.

"Don't bother," Janet growled. "You're not going anywhere until I get what I need. The molecular disrupter is ready. Come on, Shelby. You're going first."

"Is this going to hurt?" Shelby asked, frightened.

"Only if you survive," Janet replied threateningly as Joanna began to untie Shelby and carry her over to the machine.

"No!" Cyd cried. "I can't watch you do this to her. Take me. I'll go first."

"Cyd no!" Shelby cried. "You don't have to do this."

"Alright, fine," Janet snapped. "You want to go first? You can go first."

Shelby began to cry as Joanna untied Cyd and carried her over to the machine.

"Get her in the machine," Janet commanded Joanna as Joanna did so.

"Stop!" Shelby cried. "I'll do whatever you want. Just let Cyd go."

"It'll be okay, Shelby," Cyd tried to reassure her friend, even as Joanna shut the door to the chamber.

Unbeknownst to the other occupants of the lab, Cyd managed to get out of the chamber as Joanna pressed the button to start the machine.

Then Cyd's dog Diesel wandered in. Shelby got him to use his spiky collar to cut through her restraints. Once free, Shelby stood up from the table and headed toward Janet's machine.

Janet gave Joanna a hand signal, a silent command telling her to shoot Shelby with her laser gun.

"You equipped your sidekick with a laser gun?" Shelby asked, shocked as she dodged each shot.

"Of course I did," Janet replied. "25 years ago, I was attacked in my old lab. Did you think I was going to let that happen again?"

One laser blast hit Shelby in the arm. Joanna laughed triumphantly.

"Stun lasers don't feel good, do they?" She asked with a dangerous smirk. "Give up and go back to your table like a good girl. You're not going to be able to take another hit."

But Shelby refused to give up, even while dazed and very dizzy.

"I'm coming, Cyd," she said determinedly. She continued to dodge Joanna's sharpshooter-like aim, but then Janet blocked her path.

"So close," she smirked evilly. "Hurts, doesn't it?"

Then the machine sparked. Shelby began to cry as Joanna discarded her laser gun and made her way over to the machine.

"How sad for you," Janet mock pouted. "Getting through all those lasers just to see your friend like this, and there's nothing you can do to save her."

"How could you?" Shelby cried. "She's my best friend."

"And now she's our answer to time travel," Janet said.

"Janet, she's not in here," Joanna remarked.

"What?" Janet mumbled to herself, walking over to the machine and looking inside the chamber. "Where is she?" She demanded.

"Right behind you, you evil scrunches," Cyd said with a smile. She was standing behind them, holding Joanna's laser gun in her hands. She shot them each with a laser blast.

The next thing they knew, they didn't remember this timeline, and Janet's scientists, led by Joanna, were working on giving Janet the ability to time travel.

Chapter 3: Fight the Future, Part 1

Cyd and Shelby's high school was now called The Smythe and Harris Academy. The initials JS and JH were written all over the school. They stood for Janet Smythe and Joanna Harris, who ruled over the United States.

"Janet, you've got to check the time travel sensors," Joanna said, coming into the parlor of Janet's palace-like house. "They're lighting up like crazy." When Janet looked at the sensors, she smiled.

"Suit up, Joanna," she said. "We're going to visit an old enemy of mine."

When Janet and Joanna entered the school, they spotted Cyd and Shelby. Janet grinned like the Cheshire Cat.

"Hello, Cyd and Shelby," she said.

"You know us?" Shelby asked.

"Of course we do," Joanna replied, sporting a grin that was identical to Janet's. "And the time travel sensors I placed in the school alerted us the minute you jumped into your bodies."

"Oh yeah," Janet said when the girls' faces became shocked upon Joanna's mention of time travel. "We know all about you, and all about time travel."

"Cyd, I think they're time travelers too," Shelby said. "That would explain how Janet was able to invent pretty much everything in the past 25 years and became Supreme Leader."

"Oh, so a woman can't become Supreme Leader without manipulating time and space?" Janet asked.

"Of course a woman can," Shelby yelled. "How dare we say otherwise."

"Shelby," Cyd warned.

"Right," Shelby said sheepishly. "Why did you freeze Barry and Naldo?"

"I knew they gave you the ability to time travel," Janet said. "So I had them frozen in suspended animation so they wouldn't try to stop us."

"But now that we have you, you can't stop us either," Joanna added.

"I wish we could jump out of here so we could erase this timeline," Cyd grumbled.

"Well, you can't," Janet said. "I've installed a time travel blocker somewhere in this school; somewhere you'll never find it."

There was a pause. "I bet it's in the clock," Shelby realized. "I bet that's why she came here personally to oversee its installation."

"Joanna, they've found us out," Janet said to Joanna. "Take them to the suspended animation chamber."

As Joanna was about to drag the girls away with the help of her specially-selected cadet team, Shelby's boyfriend Drake stopped her.

"With all due respect, Supreme Leader, can you spare Shelby?" He asked. "She's my girlfriend, and I've got something pretty Janet planned."

"How Janet we talking?" Janet asked. Joanna rolled her eyes. As much as she idolized this woman, she often got annoyed by her vanity and cockiness.

Somehow, while the girls were arguing about their views on Drake, who was Janet's top enforcer next to Joanna, they managed to destroy the clock with the time travel blocker in it.

"Our time blocker," Janet and Joanna screamed as the girls reset the timeline.

Chapter 4: Fight the Future, Part 2

In Janet's office at GDD, Janet and Joanna were discussing plans.

"I know who I need to extract tachyon particles from," Janet said. "Is the team ready for when we return with who we are looking for?"

"Ready and waiting as you requested," Joanna replied.

"Good," Janet said with a nod of approval. "We're going to Norm Marcus's house. His daughter and her friend that lives with them are our targets."

"Understood," Joanna responded. "I'll go get the tachyometers and meet you outside."

When Janet and Joanna arrived at the Marcus house, Norm seemed nervous about having them there. When Norm came inside from settling the women in in the backyard, their targets came outside.

"So, ladies, any super secret things going on at the office?" Cyd asked. "Like time travel, for example?"

"Odd that you mention time travel," Janet replied. "I have been working on that ever since I found tachyon particles in my garage in 1991. I soon discovered that they were somehow connected to time travel, and I wanted that power for myself. So I created a device I call the tachyometer." She showed Cyd and Shelby her bracelet.

"It senses the presence of tachyon particles," she continued. "I detected small amounts of tachyons on your father; not enough to make him a time traveler, but clearly he was in contact with someone who is."

"And that's why you're here," Shelby said slowly in realization. "You came to find us." That was when they noticed that Janet's bracelet was beeping.

"So now that you know we're time travelers, what do you want from us?" Cyd asked.

"I need more tachyons to develop my own power to time travel," Janet replied.

"And I have figured out a way to harvest them from you," Joanna added. Her bracelet was beeping as well. "We just needed to find you."

"Now that we've found you, we have our source of tachyons, and can finally give ourselves the ability to time travel."

"We're not going to let you do that," Cyd snapped.

"And what are you idiots going to do to stop us?" Janet asked.

Then the girls time jumped back, but Janet and Joanna still remained in their same positions.

"One more thing," Janet said, startling the girls. "These devices, which I have inserted into mine and Joanna's bracelets, allow us to remember any timeline we're in."

"So time jump all you want," Joanna added. "We'll remember everything just like you do."

"We won't take you away in front of your father," Janet said. "But we'll be back for you. Come on, Joanna."

Later that evening, Janet and Joanna were getting ready to lock up the building for the night, when they noticed that the lab had been broken into and the laser had been used.

"Those pests gave up their powers," Janet growled.

"What about that boy and his weird friend?" Joanna asked. "Maybe they can help us."

Janet smiled evilly. "Brilliant idea," she said. "Find them and bring them back to me. Take a few men with you and clear out all their science equipment, too. Once we have them, you and I will send a message to Shelby and Cyd."

Sure enough, once Janet secured Barry and Naldo in a small room, along with Barry's equipment, she and Joanna recorded a video message for the girls.

"We know you're not time travelers anymore," Janet began.

"And we know that Barry is the brains behind all of it," Joanna added. "So instead of taking you two, we took him, his friend, and all of their equipment."

"They are going to synthesize time travel for us," Janet continued. "And now you are powerless to do anything about it."

Over the next few days, Janet and Joanna prepared to carry out their ultimate plan.


End file.
